The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came up short against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the national championship, but they showed a lot of promise. The Fighting Irish opened the game with an 18-play drive that ended in a QB Riley Leonard rushing touchdown. As head coach Marcus Freeman put it, the game was a “do-or-die” situation, and it seemed to be working for a while.
However, Ohio State shut down their opponent’s running game and fought back with their offense. Before long, the Buckeyes had a 31-7 lead and ultimately won their first national championship since 2014.
Joel Klatt Confident in Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman
Even though Notre Dame lost 34-23, the Fighting Irish put up an incredible fight, and FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt shared the sentiment on his eponymous podcast on Jan. 23:
“I love what Marcus Freeman is building. … I was incredibly high on Marcus Freeman and what he was able to do. Listen, that team was overmatched on Monday night, and yet they battled, and they battled, and they battled. The culture at Notre Dame is excellent, and the team I believe is elite.
“I would be absolutely shocked if Notre Dame is not back in the College Football Playoff next year. That’s the level that Marcus Freeman is now kinda competing at; he’s building something very special. It’s not gonna surprise me at all if Marcus Freeman is able to win a national championship at Notre Dame if he decides to stay there.”
Freeman, though saddened by the loss, was proud of his team, as he said postgame, “The outlook of Notre Dame football is extremely high. As long as the people in that locker room that come back understand what it takes, the work that these guys put in, there’s a lot of success in the future.”
The Fighting Irish went 14-2 last season, with their only other loss coming against the Northern Illinois Huskies in Week 2. After that, it was all wins for Notre Dame until the national championship.
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The team set a new program record with 14 wins and ended the season ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll. In his time as a head coach for the Indiana-based university, Freeman has accumulated a 33-10 record.
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